Endurance
by Baseball Honey
Summary: The characters of Harry Potter compete in a game show to see who has the most endurance. Friendships will form, but will they last? Can the players stay true to themselves and still play the game? Who will have the most endurance? I own nothing. Characters belong to JK Rowling, and the plot/concept/title/pretty much everything else belongs to the creators of Endurace.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This story is a mix between Harry Potter and the tv show Endurance(a kids surviver type show). I own nothing. Not the characters (JK Rowling does), not the plot (that belongs to the show Endurance and it's creators), not the concept (again, that belongs to the Endurance producers/creators). The challenges you read about are almost exactly how they were on the show. I changed a few minor things, but I mostly took the characters from Harry Potter and put them in the tv show. Also, this is very OOC. And Ron and Ginny are not related. Them being brother/sister just didn't work for this. Without further ado, here is Endurance:

Introductions

"Hi, my name is Sirius Black and I have found 20 boys and girls willing to join me on a quest to find out who has the most endurance. Over the next several weeks, these boys and girls will compete in an elimination style contest that will test their strength, will power, heart, and mental abilities. They will sleep in cabins with no modern conveniences, no magic, and no communication with the outside world. We shipped the kids to the tropical American island of Hawaii. Let's meet our contestants, shall we?"

The contestants were currently walking through a jungle to get to their destination. They were walking over rocks, under low hanging branches, jumping small creeks, and dodging the bugs flying around their faces.

"My name is Hermione, I'm 13, and I'm from Cambridge," said a girl with brown bushy hair. "I think the best way to beat my opponents is to outsmart them. I may not be as strong as the other players, but I'm positive I can figure out the most efficient way to get through challenges."

"I'm Oliver, I'm 15 and from Glasgow," a brown haired boy with pretty eyes declared. "The key to winning this game is what we did to prepare. I trained every day back home for weeks before we left. Who else can say they did that?"

"My name is Draco, I live in Nottingham, I'm 14," said a grey eyed boy with platinum blond hair. "Everything has been handed to me on a silver platter my whole life. This is my chance to prove I'm more than good looks and money."

"Harry, 13, from York," stated a somewhat scrawny boy with messy black hair. "My strategy is to try to be friendly to everyone. I think I can stay longer with lots of friends."

"I'm Alicia, I'm 15 from London," said a pretty blond girl. "I think my best shot of winning is to team up with the strongest person here."

"Seamus, 14, from Edinbrugh," declared a brown haired boy. "I will win this game by being me self. I'm loyal to my friends and that goes a long way."

"My name is Neville, I'm 14, and I'm from Norwich," said a young man with a boyish face. "I think staying under the radar is the key to winning. Not showing my true strength until the end."

"My name is Ginny, 12, from Bradford," stated a pretty red headed girl. "I'm going to win by being a fierce opponent. I'm tougher than I look."

"Pansy, 14, Southampton," declared a girl with a pug-like face. "I have no doubt I will win. I'm great at everything."

"I'm Cedric, I'm 15, and I'm from Manchester," said a fit brown haired boy. "My strategy is to win."

"I'm Luna, 13, from Bradford," said a lovely girl with long, curly, blond hair. "I think winning will not come easy, but it should be easier with the nargles away."

"My name is Katie, 15, from Northampton," declared a slim, pretty girl with dark hair. "I think I can win because I'm athletic. I play all sorts of sports wizard and muggle alike. I can do anything they throw at me."

"Ron, 14, Queensbury," said a red head. "I think the best way to win is to play your strengths."

"My name is Amelia, 13, from Stoke-on-Trent," stated a plain looking girl. "My strategy is to try my hardest."

"I'm Ernie, 14, Coventry," said an average looking young man. "The way I see it, winning will come if I work hard and want it more. I want it more."

"My name is Gregory, but I prefer to be called Goyle, I'm 13, and I live in Derby," stated a tall boy. "My secret to winning is to intimidate everyone so they are afraid to cross me."

"I'm Lavender, I live in London, and I'm 14," declared a bubbly brown haired girl. "I'll win because I'm going to try to get all of the boys to like me. If they like me, they'll help me win."

"My name is Astoria, I'm 12, from Liverpool," said a blond haired girl. "I'm cunning. I'll win because everyone is going to underestimate me."

"I'm Blaise, I'm 14, and I'm from Brighton," stated a boy with tan skin and dark hair. "I'm going to win by focusing on the prize and not letting anything get in the way of that."

"Angelina, 15, Bristol," said a girl with curly hair. "I think people will get the wrong impression of me at first. I come off as hardcore and mean, but I'm sweet as can be. Once people see that, I'll be able to show my true strength."

As Angelina finished introducing herself, the contestants started to see brighter areas ahead. The jungle was getting less dense with every step they took.

"We must be getting close," someone called out.

"Wait! I see a small lake, and cabins! We're here!" another voice said excitedly.

The group broke out in cheers as everyone forgot their fatigue and started running. As they arrived closer to camp, they saw Sirius Black standing in the middle of a huge circle outlined by big, sharp, black rocks. As they looked around they saw two cabins in the middle of an open field. About twenty feet from the cabins, were a group of trees. Two hammocks where hanging in the cluster of trees as well as a simple swing made from a plank of wood and two ropes. There was a lake to the left of the cabins. On the outside of the little meadow, they were surrounded by forest.

"I see you all made it safely," Sirius said to the group with a smile. Cheers of excitement were yelled at his statement. "I bet this is a little different than what you guys had in mind huh?" Murmurs of agreement passed through the group.

"Welcome to Endurance. As you know, I'm Sirius and I'll be guiding you through the next few weeks. The challenges that lie ahead will not be easy. They will test everything you have. You will have no communication with the outside world. You will not be able to use magic to assist you. Once you entered the campsite, any spells, charms, or potions you used to help you in this competition were canceled out. This is a test of pure human strength, smarts, heart, will, and ability."

"Oh good! I was hoping nargles wouldn't be here. With the enchantments placed around here, they can't possible have followed me!" Luna whispered to no one in particular. Sirius shook his head and continued with his speech.

"You will play the game in pairs. One boy and one girl will be on each team. You will play two types of challenges: Endurance Challenges, and Fate Challenges. In Endurance Challenges you will earn puzzle pieces. There are 13 puzzle pieces in all that you will need to collect. In Fate Challenges, you win the right to send two teams to the House of Fate. At the House of Fate, two teams compete for the right to come back and play another day. We will keep going until we have two teams left standing to compete for all of the pieces.

"With all of that in mind however, you have to earn the right to stay. Four of you will be going home tonight: two boys and two girls." The group let out a collective gasp at the news. "For now, go explore the cabins and the surrounding areas. For some of you, it will be your only chance. I'll call you in a few hours to play the right to stay," Sirius stated. He walked off into to wood line as the kids made a beeline for the cabins.

There was one cabin for the boys and one cabin for the girls. Inside, there were only 8 sets of bunk beds. Bare minimum would have been an understatement for these cabins. They literally were just four wooden walls with a window in each. Upon closer inspection, the bunks were just posts with a basket like woven mat.

In the girl's cabin, Pansy, Ginny, Angelina, and Alicia had each claimed a top bunk to set their belongings. Ginny jumped down from her bunk and sat on the one below it next to Luna. Hermione walked over and sat next to them.

"Don't you think it's a bit premature to be picking out your bunk and unpacking?" Hermione pointed out. She had left her backpack on the floor in case she did not make it through the night.

"No. It's called confidence. I'm confident that I'll make it passed the challenge," Pansy said from across the cabin.

"More like cocky," Ginny whispered in Hermione's ear. She giggled.

"You don't even know what the challenge is yet," Luna added.

"So?" Pansy responded. She glared at the girls and then walked outside.

"She's a piece of work isn't she?" Angelina said walking over to the girls and sitting on the bottom bunk opposite Ginny, Luna, and Hermione. "You should have heard her the entire way up here. Complaining one second about how hot it was, and then comparing it to all of the tropical vacations daddy dearest has taken her on."

"Must be nice," Ginny replied. "My family's never been on vacation. Can't afford it."

"Yeah really. I mean my family's been able to afford to vacation, but never any where tropical. Just around England and close countries." Hermione said.

"Yep, it looks the same!"

The girls looked to the doorway and saw Blaise standing there. He walked in and sat next to Angelina followed by Goyle and Draco.

"How crazy is this?" Blaise said. "I mean I figured we'd all stay at least one night."

"I thought so too, but I have to admit there is someone I wouldn't miss," snickered Angelina.

"There you guys are!" Pansy sang with an annoying tone. "I was looking for you." She looked to Draco, "Hey, do you want to go explore for a minute?"

"Um, sure," he responded. The group watched them walk out of the door. Alicia walked over and sat in Draco's seat.

"Can you believe how similar it is to home?" she said.

"What do you mean?" Goyle asked.

"I mean it's so wet and green. It's just much hotter," Alicia clarified.

"Yeah," Astoria said joining the group. They sat in a somewhat awkward silence.

"Oh look, it's started raining," Luna said.

"Wow, it's raining hard. It's going to be nothing but mud soon," Lavender said joining the conversation.

"I'm gonna go dance in it, anyone care to join me?" Astoria stated.

Blaise, Goyle and Angelina got up to follow her. Ginny and Luna laughed watching them. Hermione on the other hand looked miffed.

"Hey, let's go check out the boys bunk," Ginny suggested. Hermione, Luna, Alicia, and Lavender followed Ginny out of their cabin, and ran through the rain to the boys bunk.

"Hello boys," Ginny said flirtatiously.

The boys replied various forms of hello as the girls walked in and sat on the bunks around them.

"So, what do you guys think?" Lavender asked.

"About what?" Ron questioned.

"I dunno, this place, these dreadful cabins, four of us going home tonight, anything really," she replied.

"I don't want to be going home, that's for sure," Ernie piped up. He was sitting in between Hermione and Seamus.

"Me neither. I'd hate to have to explain to me mum that I flew to the other side of the world just to come back home a day later," Seamus responded.

"So what do you boys like to do back home?" Ginny questioned.

"Quidditch," they all replied at the same time.

"Yeah?" Ginny responded. "I bet I could smoke every single one of you! I come from a huge family where I'm the only girl. All we do is play Quidditch."

"I was the youngest seeker in a century on my team back home," Harry replied.

"Impressive," Alicia piped up. "I play as well. Chaser."

"Do you play Luna and Hermione?"

"Oh no," Hermione replied. "I'm much more of a books girl than a sports girl. Not that I'm not fit or strong or anything. Quidditch just isn't my thing," Hermione hoped she hadn't made herself seem weak. "What do you guys think about playing in partners? I must say I'm relieved."

"Yeah it's nice having someone go through it with you," piped Ginny.

"Hey everyone, come on out. We're about to do the challenge!" Sirius said interrupting their conversation.

"Here we go!" Cedric replied excitedly, jumping off of a bunk. The girls hadn't even seen him sitting up there.

"Alright let's walk out to the lake," Sirius responded once everyone had joined him.


	2. Right to Stay

Disclaimer: This story is a mix between Harry Potter and the tv show Endurance(a kids surviver type show). I own nothing. Not the characters (JK Rowling does), not the plot (that belongs to the show Endurance and it's creators), not the concept (again, that belongs to the Endurance producers/creators). The challenges you read about are almost exactly how they were on the show. I changed a few minor things, but I mostly took the characters from Harry Potter and put them in the tv show.

Right to Stay

The kids followed Sirius to the lake where they saw ten poles attached to a huge frame hanging over the water. There was a platform at the edge of the lake. As the kids approached, confusion spread on each of their faces.

"Alright, as you can see, the right to stay challenge will consist of you holding on to a pole over the lake as long as you can. The first two girls and the first to boys to fall will be going home immediately." Sirius paused to let this sink in for the contestants. "It's simple enough, so if there are no questions, ladies first! Just walk over to the platform and it will move you into place."

The girls walked over to the platform with various emotions on their face. Some, like Pansy and Astoria, were confident. Others, like Hermione and Luna, were terrified. The platform moved to the poles, and the girls had to shuffle around so they would not get knocked off as the platform positioned itself with the poles in the dead center.

"Ok girls, grab a hold. On your mark, get set, go!" Sirius yelled.

When he said the word "go" the platform retreated back to the shore. The girls clung onto the poles for dear life. Five minutes passed slowly. The boys, who watched from the shore, yelled encouraging words to the girls.

Hermione had begun to shake and had her eyes closed trying to block out the pain. Ginny had resorted to grunting and trying to move slightly. Luna was holding tight, but showed no outward signs of physical strain. Amelia was starting to slide down slightly. She squeezed tighter to hold herself still. Pansy looked merely bored. Angelina had her eyes closed. Lavender, Katie and Astoria had begun to shake like Hermione, however they were encouraging each other to hold on. Alicia began to say she couldn't hold on much longer when she slipped trying to readjust her hold.

"Oh, no! Alicia fell. One more girl and it's over," Sirius yelled. Alicia came up from under the water and cursed to herself. She hit the water hard before she swam to shore.

"I'm sorry, Alicia," Sirius said hugging her before she sat down to watch the rest. A member of the crew brought her a towel to dry off with.

Three more minutes passed before Amelia started slipping again.

"Hold tight Amelia!" Harry yelled out to her. The other boys followed suit and started to encourage her.

"Don't let go Amelia, you've made it this far, you can make it a little longer," Luna said encouragingly.

She nodded briefly and locked her feet around each other in attempt to hold on longer. But unfortunately the attempt failed and she crashed to the water.

"That's it!" Sirius yelled. "Amelia let go. Congratulations girls! You are official Endurance players!"

The girls let go one by one relieved to let go and allow their muscles to relax. The water felt good on their tense, tired muscles. But the girls didn't stay still long. They began hugging each other, celebrating the fact that they had made it past the right to stay.

Amelia swam to shore immediately, not wanting to join the celebration in the water. She walked over to Alicia. They hugged, and began crying in each other's arms. Cedric and Neville walked over to try to console them.

The official Endurance girls slowly made their way to the shore at the request of Sirius. The boys congratulated the girls as they walked to the platform for their turn. Once the platform was in place, the boys took their positions.

"Alright boys, on your mark, get set, go!" Sirius yelled. As with the girls, as soon as all of the boys were holding on, the platform moved back to shore.

Eight minutes passed before the boys were starting to fidget. Oliver, Draco, Goyle, Cedric and Ron made the challenge look easy. Neville and Ernie both had their eyes closed and were trying to focus on something else. Seamus and Harry had started to encourage each other to hold on longer.

Blaise yelled out, "Someone fall already!"

The boys laughed at his comment, unsure if he was serious or not. The laughter caused Neville to slip down a little.

"Hold on, Neville! You can do it!" Ginny yelled.

"Stay strong Neville!" Hermione screamed.

"And here comes some more rain!" Sirius stated as a new downpour started.

Ernie all of a sudden fell to the water. He popped up from under the water and swam towards shore with a sad expression on his face.

"Ernie fell. One more and we'll have our official players." Sirius said.

Blaise bounced a little bit on his pole to readjust his grip. Seamus slid down a fraction as a result. This gave Blaise an idea. He bounced again. This time Neville slid down again.

"Stop it Blaise!" Neville said. But Blaise kept bouncing.

"I don't believe it!" Sirius said. "Blaise is trying to literally shake the competition off."

Blaise jumped again. All of a sudden, Goyle went crashing to the water. He came up cursing and slapping the water.

Cheers erupted from the boys as they jumped down to the water. They celebrated in a similar way to the girls, who were cheering from the shore. The boys started working their way towards the shore.

Sirius let the official players celebrate with each other while he went to talk to the contestants going home.

"Alicia, tell us what happened," Sirius asked.

"Well, I was trying to readjust my grip, and I guess I loosened my hold too much and I slipped," Alicia replied in a disappointed tone.

"Amelia?" Sirius asked.

"I..I just…couldn't…hold on…" Amelia cried.

"Ernie?"

"Sirius, the rain got me. It was so slippery. I just slid right off," Ernie replied sadly.

"Goyle?"

"It was stupid Blaise. If he wouldn't have been jumping, I wouldn't have fell. My grip was rock solid until he shook the poles and my grip was changed." Goyle spat.

"I'm sorry guys. I hope you have a safe trip home. It was nice to meet you guys." Sirius stated. He pointed to a man walking up in cargo shorts and a black fitted t-shirt. "This is Remus. He will escort you to get your belongings and then to the portkey for you to take home." He waved them goodbye before he turned to the sixteen contestants left.

"Congratulations!" he exclaimed. "I'm looking at the sixteen official players of Endurance!"

The group erupted in cheers.

"Ok guys, go get settled. But most importantly, think long and hard about what you want in a partner for this game. Then get to know each other. Tomorrow we will find out who your partners will be, and what team color you will represent. Get a good night's sleep and I will see you tomorrow."

Sirius watched the kids walk back towards their cabin before he turned to walk back towards his own.

Ron, Harry, Draco, Blaise, Seamus, Oliver, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Astoria and Pansy sat around the boys bunk hanging out.

"Ok, so if you can have your ideal partner tomorrow, who would it be? Like let's go around and stay our top two," Ginny asked.

"I'll be honest, if I had my pick, I'd want Ginny or Astoria," Draco stated.

"I think Luna or Ginny would be a good match for me," Seamus said.

"I'd want Lavender or Ginny," Ron declared.

"Astoria or Ginny," Harry said simply.

"Pansy or Astoria," Draco said.

"I think anyone would be a good match for me," Oliver said.

"Oi, that's not allowed. Pick two." Ginny said.

"Fine. Maybe Angelina or Katie?" he restated.

"Hermione or Ginny," Blaise said.

"I think I'd want Ron or Harry," Hermione said.

"I think Neville would be a good partner," Luna piped in.

"I want Draco or Harry," Pansy said.

"I think Harry would be a great partner," Astoria said looking straight at Harry with a flirtatious look in her eye.

"You realize you all pretty much picked Ginny right? You can't all be her partner," Pansy said with annoyance.

"She's right," Ginny replied.

Every one sat in an awkward silence until Neville walked in.

"Hey everyone, it's raining again. A bunch of us are messing around. Care to join us?" Neville asked sweetly.

The group all looked around at each other with smiles forming. They stood up and ran to the door struggling to all fit through at one time. The struggle made them all fall off of the porch and into a puddle of mud. A laughing fit broke through them. They helped each other up and joined the rest of the kids wrestling, sliding, and playing in the mud.

When the rain stopped falling, the group took off and jumped into the lake to clean off. The playing continued there. The group was splashing and dunking each other. After they were nice and wrinkly from the water, they got out to dry off.

"I really like Harry," Astoria was saying to Pansy. He's so dreamy. I think he'd be the perfect partner too. He's strong from playing Quidditch, he's smart, he's really sweet. He's like perfect."

Ginny rolled her eyes. Harry was so not right for her. Actually, now that she was thinking about it. He would be perfect for her. She balanced out his sweetness. She was also strong from rough housing with her brothers, and from playing Quidditch with them. They were opposite enough to complement each other. It was like he filled in what Ginny was missing and she filled out what he was missing. Not that she liked him. Not like Astoria was claiming. But more like in a friendly way. Kind of like how your best friend has qualities that you lack, and vise versa.

Ginny jumped off her bunk and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Oh I thought I'd go talk to Harry for a moment," she whispered in her ear.

"You want him as your partner, don't you?" Hermione said knowingly. Ginny nodded.

"Just be sure you know what you're doing. I'd hate to see you do something you regret later," Hermione said.

"I will, Hermione. You know, you make a great friend," Ginny said as she turned to walk out of the door.

"Oi, mate, I think Astoria likes you," Ron said to Harry. The two had formed a fast friendship.

"More like stalks me. She won't leave me alone. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised she's not in here right now," Harry laughed. He was sitting on his bottom bunk next to Ron. Opposite of them, Seamus, Oliver, and Cedric were sitting.

"Oh she's not that bad," Seamus said.

"Yeah, she's kind of hot," Cedric declared.

"I mean I'm sure she'd be a great partner, but she just comes on way too strong I guess," Harry replied.

Blaised walked in and sat next to Harry. "Ginny is outside and wants a quick word, Harry," He said.

Harry looked confused, but got up anyways to see what she wanted. The group he was sitting with made mocking noises as he walked out. But he ignored them.

Ginny was standing on the far corner of the porch. As he walked up she said, "I have an idea."


	3. Partners

Partners

Sirius walked out of his cabin, and over to the contestants cabins. Draco, Blaise, and Cedric were outside of the boy's cabin talking. Harry and Astoria were on the swing and Ginny, Luna, and Neville were on the hammocks.

"Hey guys, come on over!" Sirius called over to the group at the cluster of trees. He continued walking over to the cabins.

"Hey everyone, come on out!" he yelled to everyone in the cabins. They came shuffling out and formed a group in front of him. "As you all know, we will be doing partner selection today. And I'm going to give you the chance to pick your own partner. Sounds good right?"

"Yeah," the group said collectively.

"You must know it won't be that easy," Sirius said with smile. "Today, you will compete for the right to pick the partner you want. Follow me to the other side of the lake, and I will explain how partner selection will go."

The group took off towards the area on the other side of the lake. Luna tripped over a rock and Neville caught her before she stumbled to the ground. When they arrived at the correct spot, Sirius turned around to face the kids.

"You see that catapult on the far bank of the lake? That catapult will launch balls numbers one through fifteen. Your goal is to catch the lowest numbered ball you can. The person will ball number one will be guaranteed to have the partner they want. Easy enough?" Sirius asked. Everyone nodded. "Well if there are no questions, then get into place."

The group stood waiting in the center of the field. No one knew where the ball was going to go, so they were pushing each other slightly and trying their best to guess where to be.

"Ready….launch!" Sirius yell and the first ball flew through the air. As it moved, the students adjusted their positions. At least ten pairs of hands went into the air to snatch the ball. It bounced off their outstretched arms and landed on the ground. It rolled away from the group. Harry and Cedric were closest to the ball. Cedric was just a little bit faster and grabbed the ball. He stood up victoriously.

"Alright, Cedric got ball number one! Come over here and we'll keep going," Sirius yelled.

Cedric walked over to Sirius as everyone else stood waiting for the next launch. The remaining competitors stood where the first ball landed.

"Ready….launch!" Sirius yelled again. The second ball soared towards the group. No one caught it, and it landed on the ground. Astoria and Ginny were the closest to it. They both dived. Astoria had beat Ginny to it, but Ginny was able to grab a hold of it as well. Both girls kept pulling until Astoria's grip slipped and Ginny was triumphant.

"Ginny's got it!" Sirius yelled. She got up and walked over to Sirius as the rain started to fall down. He directed her to stand next to Cedric. The remaining group stood waiting the release of ball number three.

"Ready…launch!" he yelled again. The ball rocketed across the water. Blaise was positioned perfectly and caught the ball with ease. He took his spot next to Ginny as the next ball launched into the air. Ron tried to make a grab for it, but it bounced out of his hands and Draco was able to recover it. Ron however, was able to catch the following ball with ease. Harry caught the next ball, followed by Astoria. Neville caught the next ball, and Luna caught the one after him. Hermione followed with a beautiful catch. Oliver caught the ball after Hermione, and Angelina caught the one after Oliver. Seamus caught the next ball, leaving Pansy, Katie and Lavender to battle out for the final two balls.

The ball launched into the air. Pansy tried to catch it, but the ball bounced off of her arm. The ball hit the ground and bounced up into Katie's open arms.

"Katie got it!" Sirius yelled. She walked over to take her place in line. Sirius called for the release of the final ball. The ball went short of where the girls were. Pansy ran up and pushed Lavender out of the way to get to it. She grabbed it, and the game was over. The two girls walked over and took their place in line.

"If you look over here," Sirius pointed to his right, "We have set out a square with a color on it." There were 8 squares: a red, an orange, a yellow, a green, a blue, a grey, a purple, and a brown. We will go down the line, and you can either pick a color, or your partner." He turned to Lavender. "Lavender, since no one is there, you get to pick a color."

"I'll pick red," Lavender declared.

"Alright, go on over to the square, Sirius said. He turned to Pansy. "Which color would you like, Pansy?" he asked.

"Purple," she replied. She walked over before Sirius could direct her.

"Katie?" Sirius asked.

"Can I have blue please?" she asked.

"Of course," he said nodding for her to walk over.

"Seamus, you can either pick your partner, or pick a color. What will it be?"

"I'm going to pick yellow," he replied.

"Angelina?" Sirius asked.

"Green," she stated simply before walking over.

"Oliver, what will it be?" Sirius questioned.

"Brown," he said.

"Hermione, are you going to create our first team or pick a color?" Sirius asked the bushy haired girl.

"I'm going to pick Oliver," she said. Hermione walked over to join Oliver on the brown square.

"Alright! We have a team! I wonder if it will stay a team or get broken up?" Sirius said. "Oh did I forget to mention? From this point on, for the remaining players, if the partner you want is already taken, you can bump his or her teammate and take their place." A gasp went through the contestants as he finished his statement.

"So, Luna, will you bump Hermione, or will you pick a color?" Sirius asked.

"I will take orange," she replied.

"Neville, will you break up the only official team? Or will you create a new one? Or will you pick our final color?" Sirius asked.

"I'm going to pick Luna," Neville said walking over to Luna officially forming the Orange Team.

"Excellent!" Sirius exclaimed. "Two official teams. Now, Astoria, what would you like to do?"

"Grey please," she said.

"Well walk on over," Sirius said turning to Harry. "Harry, what would you like to do?"

"I'm going to join Astoria," he replied, much to the happiness of Astoria. She hugged him as he joined her on the grey square.

"Beautiful, Ron, now you have to pick an available girl, or break up a team. What's your pick?"

"I pick Lavender," Ron said. He walked over to her to create the Red Team.

"Draco, who would you like as your partner?" Sirius questioned.

"Pansy," he replied, officially creating the Purple Team.

"Blaise, you are next. Are you going to break up a team, or make a new one?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, I think Hermione would make an excellent partner," He replied.

"Okay, Oliver, sorry mate, you have to pick from an available girl." Sirius said as Blaise walked over to Hermione, recreating the brown team.

"I'm going to join Katie," Oliver replied. Katie grinned at his choice.

"Excellent, now Ginny, what will it be?" Sirius asked.

Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she announced loud and clear: "Harry."

Everyone inhaled sharply as her words registered.

"Oh my God, she said you," Astoria whispered to Harry.

"I know. It'll be okay," he whispered back. Ginny walked over while he was trying to comfort her. However, he smiled and grabbed Ginny's hand as she walked onto the square.

"Astoria, I'm sorry, you need to choose another partner," Sirius said.

"Can I bump someone else?" she asked.

"No, you can only go to someone open," he replied sadly. Astoria walked dejectedly to the yellow square with Seamus on it.

"Alright Cedric, the one person guaranteed to get the partner he wants. Who will it be?"

"Angelina," he replied. He walked over to the green square.

"Brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed. "We have our official teams now! Let's recap shall we? We have:

Cedric and Angelia on the Green Team

Seamus and Astoria on the Yellow Team

Ginny and Harry on the Grey Team

Oliver and Katie on the Blue Team

Blaise and Hermione on the Brown Team

Draco and Pansy on the Purple Team

Ron and Lavender on the Red Team and finally,

Neville and Luna on the Orange Team!" Sirius announced. With that, he dismissed the teams for the day.

"How could she do that to me? She knew I wanted Harry as my partner! She knew it! Everyone knew it! He wanted me as his partner too!" Astoria cried to Katie in the girls bunk. The previous night, they had stayed up late whispering to each other. They found fast friends in each other.

"I dunno, Astoria. It was a cruel thing to do," Katie replied.

Pansy was lying on the top bunk above the crying Astoria. She hated tears, and had had enough. She jumped down and looked around. She wanted to talk to Ginny, but she wasn't in the cabin. So she walked out to the porch to look around. She spotted her in the hammocks with Hermione, Blaise, and Harry. Pansy made a beeline for them.

"Ginny, go talk to Astoria. She will not shut up about what you did. Which was really mean by the way." Pansy stated bluntly.

Ginny rolled her eyes and walked off. But not before she heard Harry say, "Pansy, Astoria never asked me if I wanted to be her partner." She didn't hear the rest of the conversation but she knew how it would go; just like her conversation from the night before…

_ "Look, I want to be your partner. I feel like Astoria is a love struck weakling who would only bring you down. You seem like the most levelheaded guy out here. And the more I think about it, the more perfect we'd be as partners. I feel like we would complement each other in a way that would take us to the end of the game." Ginny and Harry had walked past the makeshift fire pit the boys had made earlier in the evening. It was still smoldering when they passed. They walked to a spot just outside the heat of the almost burned out fire._

_ "I agree," Harry told her. "Astoria has been practically stalking me since we got here. You are much more laid back and focused. If I want to win, which I do, I need someone as focused as me. Not focused _on_ me. But at this point, she expects me to be her partner."_

_ "Well what if I was the 'bad guy?'" Ginny suggested._

_ "What do you mean?" Harry questioned._

_ "Well, since Sirius said we get the chance to pick, so I'll just pick you before her," she said._

_ "But we don't know what the challenge is," Harry reasoned._

_ "So we will have to manipulate the situation tomorrow to our advantage," Ginny said. "The plus side of growing up with all brothers is that I've learned how to manipulate plans so they still happen the way I want." Ginny said with a cunning look in her eyes._

Ginny reached the girl's cabin and walked in. She immediately saw Astoria crying in the arms of Katie. Katie let go and pointed to where Ginny stood.

"What do you want?" Astoria said bitterly. "Here to take my friend too?"

"No," Ginny replied softly. "I wanted to explain why I did what I did."

"Well?" Astoria asked.

"Look, I have wanted Harry as my partner since the beginning. I just kept it to myself since you were so adamant about wanting him too. I tried to convince myself to settle for someone else, but I can't just settle. I've never been able to. I know that he was the best partner for me here. I'm so sorry that I hurt you in the process. It's not like it's personal. I mean it's just a game after all," Ginny said trying to smooth things over.

"But Ginny, I claimed him first. I know you know I did. You just said it yourself," Astoria replied.

"Astoria, he's not a prize you claim. He's a human being. And just so you know, he didn't want you as a partner. He was just too nice to hurt your feelings," Ginny said. She felt awful that the last sentence had escaped her mouth, but it was too late now. So she turned on her heel and walked out as the words sunk in for Astoria. As Ginny hopped off the porch, she heard Astoria burst out in a new round of tears. She walked back over to the hammocks where Pansy had taken her spot.

"Well that went dreadful," Ginny said as she leaned against a tree.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"I accidentally let it slip that you didn't want her as a partner," Ginny replied looking at Harry.

Pansy let out a laugh and said, "I bet she took that well." The small group laughed with Pansy.

"Maybe we can kick her off early," Blaise said. Everyone looked at him like he had suddenly grown two heads. "What? We can try. If we win a Fate Challenge, all we do is send her with another team and hope they beat her."

"Who would we send though?" Harry asked.

"Blue," Ginny replied. "Astoria is getting close with Katie. If we send them, then we guarantee to split up a friendship. If they become strong enough, they will send us up first chance, Harry."

"She has a point," Pansy said.

"But aren't we doing the same thing here?" Hermione asked.

"What do you mean?" Pansy replied.

"Well we're plotting against them. And we're friends, right?" Hermione said.

"We're more like an alliance," Blaise said. "Hey that's a good idea. We should have a secret pact to pick off everyone, one by one, and then have us be at the final three spots and fight it out fair and square."

"You think Draco would go for it, Pansy?" Ginny asked.

"Probably. I mean if he knows what's good for him, he'll go along with this." Pansy said.

"Ok this stays between us. Agreed?" Hermione said.

"Agreed," they replied in chorus.


	4. Pull System

Pull System

"Hey every one, come on out!" Sirius yelled as he stood outside of the cabins. It was a bright and warm morning in the little clearing that they were calling home for the time being. He watched the players come out of the cabins. They were all dressed up in their team colors this time. He had to admit, it made knowing who was on what team much easier.

"How did you all sleep last night?" he asked. There were murmurs of okays and goods. "Alright, so a lot happened yesterday. There was a huge upset in the partner selection game. Astoria, have you and Ginny worked things out?"

"I mean I understand why she did what she did. She played the game the way she thinks it should be played and that's fine." Astoria responded.

"So have you worked things out with your partner?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. We talked last night, and I think we're going to work great together." Astoria said looking to Seamus, who was standing behind her. He had put his hand on her shoulder while she spoke.

"Katie," Sirius said turning towards her. "You and Astoria are friends right? How do you feel about what happened?"

"I think it was mean and cruel," Katie replied bluntly. "But like Astoria said, if that's how she wants to play the game, then what can we all do about it? It's over and done with."

"Wow. That was direct," Sirius said. The group laughed at his response.

"I'm not one to hold back my feelings," Katie smiled.

"Okay, so later on today we will compete in our first Endurance mission. There you will have your chance to earn a puzzle piece. And speaking of, we need to award you with your first piece. So if you will follow me, I will hand them out."

The players looked ahead of the direction that Sirius was walking. A small bridge that was not bigger than a foot wide had been added along the edge of a small bank on the lake. Eight poles had been added behind it. They were colored the team colors. Each pole had numerous pegs sticking out.

"As you can see, we've added a place to store your puzzle pieces so that everyone will know who is winning." Sirius stated. He walked over to a small table that had puzzle pieces stacked on it.

"Ok, each puzzle piece represents a trait or skill that I feel you need in order to endure. We will talk about each piece as we get to them," Sirius picked up the first piece. "Green team, for you I give you the heart piece. It takes heart to continue when you want to quit." Cedric walked up to collect the piece and went back to the group.

"Grey team, for you I give the strength piece. It takes great strength to endure when you want to give up," Sirius said as Harry walked forward to claim his piece.

"Yellow team, I give you the courage piece. It takes great courage to accept things as they come, and continue on. I think this piece is perfect for you," Seamus walked up collect his piece.

"Blue, you get Friendship. Friends can help you, or hurt you in this game." Oliver walked up to grab the piece.

"Brown team, I give you luck. You need luck on your side if you want to continue," Sirius stated as Blaise walked up to obtain his piece.

"For Purple, I give you leadership. It takes a leader to break away from the pack and endure the most," Sirius said as Draco came up to collect his team's piece.

"Red team, I give you discipline. Do you have the discipline it takes to endure?" Sirius asked as Ron came to collect his piece.

"Finally, Orange team, I give you the knowledge piece. It takes knowledge to play the challenges and come out on top," Sirius said. "Okay teams, go hang your first piece up!"

The teams walked along the bridge to their colored pole and hung up their first piece together. Once they had completed that, they walked back to their previous place, waiting further instruction.

"Ok, enjoy the rest of the morning. Because when I come back, we are going to compete in the first Endurance mission!" Sirius said excitedly. He watched the teams go on their way before he turned to go to his own cabin.

"What do you think the mission is going to be like?" Katie asked. She, Astoria, Luna, and Hermione were sitting on bunks talking.

"I dunno. I hope it's not like the right to stay game." Astoria said.

"But how can it be?" Luna responded logically. "That was a single person event. We are in partners now. It has to be something we could do together."

"She has a point," Hermione said.

"Hey Hermione!" Blaise said as he walked into the girl's cabin and sat next to her.

"It's so nice out. We never have weather like this back home. Why aren't you lovely ladies out enjoying it?" he asked enthusiastically.

"I dunno, we were talking," Katie replied.

"You can't talk outside?" he asked.

"I mean we could, but then the exclusivity of our little group here would be compromised now wouldn't it," Katie countered.

Blaise chuckled. "You are quite the spitfire, Katie," he said. He turned to Hermione, "Come outside with me, let's talk strategy for today's challenge."

Blaise stood, holding out his hand. Hermione took it and followed him down the steps, past the firepit, straight to the hammocks. Blaise laid down facing one direction while Hermione laid down next to him facing the other.

"Consorting with the enemy, eh?" Blaise said mischeviously.

"No," Hermione replied, "I was chatting with Luna when Katie came up. She was followed shortly by Astoria. She's not that bad really, just a little on the emotional side."

"You aren't going back on our alliance are you?" Pansy said as she walked up with Draco in tow. They sat down in a similar fashion as Blaise and Hermione in the hammock next to theirs.

"So you are in mate?" Blaise said to Draco.

"Yeah," he responded.

"Brilliant," Blaise retorted.

"But no, Pansy, I'm not. I'm convinced she'd send anyone of us just because we're friends with Ginny. I feel like she and Katie are out for her blood," Hermione said.

"Probably," Draco said. "Harry said he overheard the two of them last night. They were plotting how they could make something look like an accident."

"We'll need to separate them well before they can put that plan into action," Hermione said.

About twenty yards away Luna walked over to the swing where Lavender was currently sitting.

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" Luna asked.

"Oh I dunno, I'm just a little homesick I guess. Felt like being alone," she responded.

"Oh. Well I'll just leave then," Luna replied.

"No!" Lavender said. "Stay. I'm sorry. I just feel really lonely here. The girls over there haven't really taken to me. And then Katie and Angelina and Astoria haven't exactly welcomed me either."

"I feel the same way," Luna said. "I mean Hermione has been nice. But nice isn't trying to forge a friendship." Luna sat down on the swing. The girls sat in silence rocking from side to side.

"Hey, maybe we should be friends. We could help each other out and try to make it to the final two." Lavender said.

"That would be lovely," Luna responded.

"And think about it. Obviously Grey, Brown, and Purple are doing the same thing we're talking about. So are Yellow, Blue, and Green. Clearly Katie and Astoria don't like Ginny. With them at each other's throats, we can slip under the radar and let them pick each other off. Then all of a sudden it's us and one or two of them," Lavender plotted.

"Ok, I'll go get Neville and Ron and we can fill them in on our idea," Luna said.

_Well this is interesting. _Sirius thought as he looked out his cabin window. _Looks like we have super teams forming._ He looked at the different groups of kids. He saw them grouped together, talking, but looking around as if not to be heard. _Perfect moment to break it up and start the challenge._

He picked up a small black jar, and walked out of his cabin and walked out of the wood line. Since none of the contestants were in the cabins, he walked over to the fire pit and called everyone over.

"Are you guys ready to begin the Endurane challenge?" He asked.

"Yep!" Everyone said. Sirius could feel the nervous tension everyone was emitting.

"Alright, follow me behind the cabins where the challenge is set up," he said. He took off walking with the group closely behind. They walked up to a huge square frame. It had to have been twenty feet tall and twenty feet wide. About every two or so feet across the top was a pulley system. Each pulley had a rope with harnesses secured at each end.

"I bet you are wondering what this little black jar is. Well I will tell you. The jar had something in it that will disadvantage one team in tomorrow's Fate mission. The winner today will be awarded the jar. They in turn will get to pick which team to give it to." A gasp went through the teams as the soaked in the new information.

"Ok guys, how this challenge works is like this: One person on your team will be attached to each end of the rope. One person will run from the frame to the bucket colored with your team color over there," Sirius pointed to a spot about twenty or so yards away. "You will collect one piece and run it to your teammate. I know that's not far, but as the one teammate runs the other teammate is hoisted into the air. The teammate that goes up in the air, will have to put the puzzle piece your partner gives you into the bucket at the top of the pulley. You will go back and forth until one team has ten pieces in the bucket in the air. Does anyone have a question? No? Alright then, let's get into place."

Crew members helped each person get into the correct harnesses. Each team decided that the boy team member was going to run while the girl team member would be lifted into the air. Once everyone was ready Sirius asked again if anyone had questions.

"Alright then, on my count begin. Ready…set…GO!" Sirius yelled.

The boys all took off running. As they did so, each of the girls were lifted into the air. Cedric reached the pieces first, however he was closely followed by Harry, Ron and Draco. Neville, Seamus, Blaise, and Oliver weren't far behind though. Harry reached Ginny before Cedric reached Angelina. And He was off again. Harry reached the puzzle pieces for a second time before the last girl had put her piece into her bucket. Cedric and Draco were close behind him however.

Draco beat everyone back to his partner for the second piece. But Angelina hit the ground before the other girls, meaning Cedric already had his third piece in his hands. Draco was not far behind. Somehow he managed to beat Cedric back to Pansy before he had made it to Angelina.

Draco it seemed had reached a new level of energy. He grabbed the forth piece before any other team had three in the basket. He had piece five before anyone else had the forth piece in their hands. By the time Pansy put piece six in the basket, most of the other teams were just picking up piece number five.

"Purple is at least one piece ahead of everyone else. But Green is not far behind, and neither is Grey," Sirius said.

When Draco grabbed piece number seven, Cedric was just handing piece six to Angelina. Harry had given Ginny piece number six right after Cedric, and everyone else was still working with piece number five. At piece number eight, Draco began to slow down.

"Looks like Draco is getting tired. He's slowing down a bit. Green, this could be your chance to reclaim the lead," Sirius said.

Cedric handed Angelina piece number eight as Draco grabbed piece number nine.

"It's going to be a close one!" Sirius yelled.

Draco handed Pansy piece number nine as Cedric grabbed his piece number nine. Draco was half way back to his bucket when Cedric handed Angelina piece number nine.

"This is it, for the win. Can Draco hold on to the lead or will Cedric over take him?" Sirius commentated.

Draco grabbed piece number ten and sprinted with everything he had. Cedric did the same thing. Pansy soared into the air a second before Angelina did. Draco ran with everything thing he had. Pansy slipped her piece into the bucket a split second before Angelina did.

"Purple wins!" Sirius shouted. Draco ran back to Pansy to let her down. She jumped into his arms with excitement. "Purple wins the Perseverance piece and the black jar!"

The crew helped each team out of their harnesses and everyone formed a crowd around Sirius and the Purple Team. The Brown and Grey teams both looked happy for the Purple team. The other teams, on the other hand, looked disappointed.

"Purple, congratulations! I know you guys worked hard to earn this new piece," Sirius handed the Perseverance piece to Pansy. "And you earned the black jar. Think long and hard to who you want to give this to. It won't guarantee that the recipient will lose tomorrow, but it will make it that much more difficult. I will give you guys the afternoon to think it over, and then we will meet back at the circle of rocks, where we first met, to hand it out. See you guys then." Sirius walked away with the crew.

The Grey team and the Brown team walked over to Pansy and Draco to congratulate them. They had a group hug before walking back towards their cabins. Luna and Lavender hung back and watched everyone else follow the winners.

"Who do you think they will give it to?" Lavender asked Luna.

"The logical person would be the Green team since they were neck and neck the whole game. But you never know," Luna responded.

"You don't think they'd give it to us, do you?" Lavender asked.

"Why would they? We weren't even close to being a threat in that game," Luna said.

"Yeah, it is no wonder than Draco and Pansy won. She's one of the smallest girls out here, while Draco is definitely one of the strongest." Lavender stated.

"Let's head back before they start to miss us," Luna said.

"Who are you going to give it to?" Hermione asked.

"We haven't talked about it yet," Draco responded. The Brown, Grey, and Purple teams were swinging in the hammocks. The girls were sitting three deep on the first hammock and the boys were sitting three deep on the other.

Harry looked around to make sure no one was in ear shot before whispering, "Yellow or Blue?"

"What if we gave it to the Green team?" Pansy whispered back. Blaise looked at her like she sprouted gills. "No listen, they almost beat us today. Wouldn't it be smart to get a strong team out of the way? Well a strong team that is not in our alliance. Besides, we'd just be making it so they can't win tomorrow so one of us for sure will."

"She has a good point," Hermione said.

"But the Blue team wasn't too far behind us Harry," Ginny said. "And we don't know what's in the black jar. And someone else could still win. You never know,"

"What's your point, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"My point is I don't think anyone should be kept off the table at this point because we've only had one challenge. Who knows what the others will be and who will be strong and who will not be,"

"Ok so basically it's between Green, Blue, and Yellow," Pansy said.

"I vote yellow. Astoria is just going to cause problems. We can tackle Green later," Blaise said.

"Yeah, me too," Ginny agreed.

"But it's totally your decision, Pansy and Draco," Hermione said.

"Yeah mate, we'll leave you two so you can discuss the options," Harry said. Hermione, Ginny, and Blaise followed Harry back to the cabins.

"Do you know who Purple is giving the black jar to?" Ron asked as Harry and Blaise walked into the boys cabin.

"Not a clue," Blaise responded smoothly.

"But I doubt they'd give it to you," Harry told him.

Ron visibly relaxed at the news. He reclined back on the bottom bunk he was sitting on. "I bet its Green or Yellow," he said.

"Yeah?" Blaise responded.

"Yeah. Green because they almost beat purple, but yellow because Astoria hates Ginny and Pansy and Ginny are friends," Ron declared.

"Guess we're about to find out," Harry said elbowing Blaise slightly, then pointing out the door. "Here comes Sirius now. Might as well head on out."

The boys walked out of the door just as Sirius called everyone to meet in the circle of rocks. Two rocks had been placed on one side, and seven rocks had been placed a few feet away from the first two. Sirius took a seat on one of the two rocks set aside, and beckoned the Purple team to sit on the other. Everyone else was instructed to sit facing them on the remaining seven rocks.

"How is everyone? Recovered from the challenge?" Sirius asked. Yeps and yeahs were murmured through the group. "This is where all of the big decisions will be made. This is where we will hand out the black jar, and where we will send people to the House of Fate. So Purple team, you really dug it out and worked hard to win." Sirius said.

"Yeah," Draco responded. "I really wanted to win the first mission, so I just pushed the pain and everything out of my mind."

"You must have. Cedric, you were so close to the win. What do you think happened?" Sirius asked.

"I worked really hard the whole game, but I think I could have paced myself better. I didn't try as hard in the beginning as I could have thinking that I'd make up for it when everyone else had gotten tired. I didn't figure in Draco being a beast the whole time, however," Cedric replied. Everyone laughed at his response.

"He certainly was, wasn't he?" Sirius asked. "Alright now, Purple, have you decided who you want to give the black jar to?"

"We have," Pansy said.

"We decided to give it to the Yellow Team," Draco said.

"Alright yellow team, come up here and open it up," Sirius stated.

Seamus and Astoria walked up. Seamus grabbed the black jar from Sirius and opened it. Astoria reached in and pulled out a tape measure.

"How many feet does it say?" Sirius asked.

"Five," Seamus replied.

"That means that the Yellow team will have five extra feet in the challenge tomorrow. Alright guys, enjoy tonight, because for one team it will be their last," Sirius said. With that last comment, he dismissed the group.

Astoria had tears in her eyes as Katie walked up to hug her.

"Why us? What did I do to them?" Astoria asked through sobs.

"It's because they are being manipulated by the Grey team. Don't take it personally. Look either you or I will win tomorrow, and we will send Grey and Purple to the House of Fate.

"Promise?" Astoria asked.

"Promise," Katie replied.

The two girls were the last to leave the circle because of their exchange. They left with a renewed sense of vengeance against Purple and Grey, and couldn't wait for the Fate mission tomorrow.


	5. Sand Bag

Disclaimer: This story is a mix between Harry Potter and the tv show Endurance(a kids surviver type show). I own nothing. Not the characters (JK Rowling does), not the plot (that belongs to the show Endurance and it's creators), not the concept (again, that belongs to the Endurance producers/creators). The challenges you read about are almost exactly how they were on the show. I changed a few minor things, but I mostly took the characters from Harry Potter and put them in the tv show.

Author's note: Natalielovescookies, your reviews make me smile, thank you for them :)

Sandbags

"I'm nervous about the game today," Lavender said. She was sitting in a hammock with Luna, Hermione, and Angelina. Neville and Ron were sitting on the other hammock.

"I'm sad because that means someone will go home. I know some of us have our differences, but I like everyone," Angelina responded.

"Who do you guys think will win?" Ron asked.

"Probably Grey or Purple," Seamus said walking up. He sat down next to Ron and Neville.

"Maybe one of us will win," Luna said.

"Guess we will find out in a little while," Neville said. The group fell into a comfortable silence. They were enjoying the sun. The weather was just starting to warm up for the day, and the players were soaking it up.

"It's a shame we can't have weather more like this back home. It's either rainy or cold or hot. Hardly ever is it nice as this," Lavender said.

"Yeah," Neville responded. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the peacefulness. Unfortunately, it was disrupted by a playful scream. He jumped and opened his eyes. He looked at his friends and they looked just as confused as he felt. All of a sudden Astoria came running around from behind the cabins followed by Harry. He had a water bottle in his hand, and he was chasing Astoria with it, squeezing water out of it.

"Well that's something new. I thought he couldn't stand her," Lavender said.

"Yeah really," Ron stated.

"Clearly something has changed," Hermione said. She looked much more miffed than everyone else in the group. She saw Ginny walk out of the girl's cabin and walked towards the swing. Hermione also saw Blaise and Pansy walk out of the boy's cabin and follow Ginny.

"I'll see you guys later," Hermione muttered. She struggled to get out of the hammock. Once free, she walked over to the swing to meet Ginny, Pansy, and Blaise.

"Looks like there's some dissent in their group. This could be good for us guys," Neville said.

"What the bloody hell is going on with those two? Last I heard she was a stalker and Harry didn't like her," Pansy said. She, Ginny, and Hermione sat down on the swing while Blaise leaned against the tree trunk.

"It's not that he didn't like her, she was just coming on too strong and he wanted a partner who was focused on the game and not him," Ginny stated chagrined. She watched Harry and Astoria play fighting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco approach the small group.

"This could work to our advantage, you know," Blaise said.

"Are you mental?" Draco responded.

"Well it will at least work to Ginny's advantage. If Astoria thinks Harry is into her, then she won't send Grey to the House of Fate. And in turn, Harry can probably convince her not to send us either," Blaise reasoned.

"Oh look, here comes Harry," Hermione said pointing in his direction. He and Astoria had parted ways.

"Hey guys," Harry said with a smile as he reached the swing.

"What was with you and Astoria?" Pansy asked bluntly.

"What do you mean?" he responded.

"What was with you and her horsing around?" She questioned.

"Oh, that. Yeah she stole my water bottle. I guess that was her attempt at flirting with me. So I took off after her. Once I got it, I squirted her with it. I wasn't trying to flirt back or anything. Just get back at her," Harry said innocently.

"Harry, are you really that thick? She thinks you were flirting with her," Hermione said.

"But I wasn't," Harry insisted.

"Use it to your advantage," Blaise said. "Like I told Ginny, if she thinks you like her, she won't send you to the House of Fate."

"It's time for the challenge everyone!" the group heard Sirius yell out. The girls stood up from the swing and followed the boys to where Sirius was standing.

"Ok guys, today is a big day. Tonight, someone will be leaving the island forever," Sirius said dramatically. The contestants were standing on the side of the lake. Looking out over the lake, they saw a pole had been placed in the water for each team. A small platform, maybe three feet in diameter, was attached halfway down the pole.

"As you guys see, a pole with a small platform has been placed out in the lake. Yellow, your pole is five feet back as per the black jar you received yesterday. Each teammate will hold a sandbag. The sandbag is held together by a rope. Your goal is to toss the sandbags to the platform. If your bags stay on the platform, you will get to pick one team to eliminate from this game. If more than one team lands their sandbag on the platform, those teams must choose from a team who did not make it on. We will go until we have one team left. Any questions?" Sirius directed. "Good. Players go ahead and get into position."

He waited until everyone was lined up with their pole, and had a sandbag in their hand. "On your mark, get set, go!" Sirius yelled.

The blue team was the first to throw. They missed the platform entirely. Green, Brown, and Purple threw right after they did. Those teams missed their platforms as well. Orange and Yellow threw at the same time. Orange missed, while Yellow aimed perfectly and their sandbags landed on the platform with ease.

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius yelled. "Yellow team has hit their mark."

Grey and Red both threw as Sirius made his remark, and both missed.

"Ok Yellow, who would you like to eliminate?" Sirius asked.

"We need to eliminate someone strong," Seamus whispered to Astoria.

"Purple," Astoria whispered back without hesitation.

"They missed by a long shot. What about Brown? They came close," Seamus countered.

"Yellow, I need an answer," Sirius said.

"Ok we want to pick someone who we think will do good, so we pick the Brown team," Seamus said.

"Alright Brown, come on over here," Sirius said. Hermione and Blaise walked over dejectedly. "Ok everyone get ready, get set, go!" Sirius yelled to the remaining players.

Once again, everyone missed their target except for Yellow.

"Who could have guessed that what should have been a disadvantage, has turned into an advantage?" Sirius asked. "Yellow, who will it be?"

After a brief consultation with each other, Astoria said, "Purple."

"Alright Purple, come on over here, everyone else, get ready, get set, throw!" Sirius said.

Grey threw and made it onto the platform. Red missed, Blue missed, Green missed, and so did Orange. Yellow however, made it onto the platform for a third time in a row.

"What!?" Sirius yelled incredulously. "Yellow has made it for a third time in a row. And Grey made it for the first time. Grey team, you can eliminate anyone but the Yellow team. Who will it be?"

Harry and Ginny consulted for a moment before agreeing, "We pick the Green team."

"Alright, Green come on over. Yellow, who do you choose?" Sirius said.

"We pick the Red team," Seamus said.

"Ok, Red come on over, everyone else, get ready, get set, go!"

Everyone missed this time, so Sirius yelled for them to get ready. This time, Blue made it onto the platform. All the other teams missed.

"Yellow has missed for the first time since the game started!" Sirius exclaimed. "Blue team who would you like to eliminate?"

"Grey team," Katie said without hesitation.

"Alright, we are down to the Blue, Orange, and Yellow. Grey team, come on over," Sirius said. "On your mark, get set, go!"

Yellow and Blue both landed on the platform, so Orange was out by default.

"Final two teams! Did any of you expect it to come down to Yellow and Blue?" Sirius asked the eliminated players. Everyone looked at the scene with despair. They couldn't believe that the fate of the game rested on their shoulders.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Sirius yelled.

Blue made a beautiful throw, but it fell just short of the platform. Yellow threw their sandbags and it landed perfectly at the center of the platform, just at the pole.

"That's it! Game over! Yellow team wins!" Sirius yelled.

Blue team ran over to congratulate the Yellow team. The Grey, Purple, and Brown team looked terrified. They just knew that one of them was going to the House of Fate tonight.

"Congratulations Yellow team! Go and enjoy your win, but don't forget, later on this afternoon we will meet at the circle to see who will be going to the House of Fate tonight. Everyone, enjoy the afternoon, for it could be your last." Sirius said before walking away from the crowd.

"You know she's going to send us," Ginny said solemnly to Pansy and Hermione. The girls were sitting in the swing.

"Oh you don't know that," Hermione said trying to stay positive. "I mean do you even know if they are friends with Orange or Red? They might send one of them. Or even Green. I'm not all that convinced that Astoria likes them."

"Why?" Pansy asked.

"I overheard her say something about them being an underrated threat and something needs to be done before its too late," Hermione replied.

"Wow. She needs to be more careful about who is around when she's talking about people," Ginny said.

"Hey I have an idea," Pansy said getting up and walking towards the cabins.

"This can't be good," Ginny stated.

They watched Pansy enter the girl's cabin, and exit with Angelina and Blaise in tow.

"Now why is Blaise coming?" Ginny asked.

"He loves drama. He's worse than a girl!" Hermione giggled. Ginny laughed as Pansy reached the swing and sat down.

"Alright Pansy, you got me out here. Now what is so urgent?" Angelina asked.

"Well, Hermione here overheard Astoria say to Katie that you are an underrated threat and something needs to be done about you and Cedric before it's too late. I just wanted to give you a heads up to watch your back and be careful about who you trust out here," Pansy said.

A furious look crossed Angelina's face before she regained control. "Thank you for the honesty Pansy. You may be slightly snotty, but at least you are honest," she said before turning to walk away.

Pansy made a noise of indignation as Blaise laughed at the comment.

"I am _not _snotty!" Pansy declared. Blaise laughed even harder. Ginny and Hermione caught his laughter and giggled along.

"It's not that you are snotty, it's just that you are a little over confident sometimes," Ginny tried to soothe her. Pansy just crossed her arms and looked away.

"Astoria!" the group heard Angelina yell. This was enough to break Pansy from her mood. She laughed along with the rest of the group at what they imagined was about to happen. They looked to the boy's cabin and saw Draco, Harry, and Ron walk out. The boys looked curiously in at the girl's cabin before making a beeline to the giggling girls and Blaise.

"What in the bloody hell is going on in there?" Harry asked.

"Pansy just told Angelina that Astoria said that the Green team was an underrated threat and something needed to happen before they got too strong. Apparently she didn't take that news too well," Ginny said through fits of laughter.

"Well, this might prove useful for us. Maybe they will send Green and one of us instead of two of us," Blaise said.

"Hopefully," they all murmured.

"Alright guys, let's do a little talking before we find out who is going to the House of Fate tonight. I look around, and I see groups of people. And they tend to be the same people in each group. So are you guys just really good friends? Or are there alliances that have formed? What do you think Draco?" Sirius asked.

"We're just really good friends. And it's not like we're exclusively hanging out with our 'group' or whatever you want to call it. We hang out with other people as well," Draco responded smoothly.

"That's basically what an alliance is. Don't pretend like you would send Grey or Brown to the House of Fate, Draco. We all know you wouldn't do it," Seamus replied.

"So what if I want to keep my closest friends here? Is it wrong to want to continue hanging out with my friends here?"

"Guess not," Seamus said.

"Ok so the question here is what defines alliance and what defines friendship," Sirius said.

"I think an alliance means that you would sacrifice yourself for the better of the group, whereas friends just have each other's back and support you. I feel like we have friendships. Because I highly doubt anyone would lose on purpose so that someone else could win," Ginny stated.

"Interesting," Sirius responded. "Alright well, let's get down to it. Astoria, Seamus, who are you sending to the House of Fate?" Everyone held their breath afraid of the answer.

"Well Sirius, we originally wanted to send two teams who we felt were going to be very strong. But we made a last minute decision and changed our minds. We still are sending two strong teams; it's just that one team we decided was stronger than the other. So we chose the Purple and the Green team," Astoria said.

"Alright, Purple and Green, go pack your bags and say your good-byes. For one of you, it will be the final time you see this place," Sirius said. He dismissed the group and headed over to the House of Fate.

Pansy was crying so hard that Ginny and Hermione had to help her pack her bag. She stopped every few minutes to hug one of them. She even clung onto Lavender and Luna, who were trying to leave to escape her crying.

"It'll be okay, Pansy," Lavender tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, I mean if you don't come back, we can always visit. You don't live to far away," Luna said.

"You guys are great! I'm sorry I didn't try to hang out with you more," Pansy said through sniffles.

"There, there darling. Why don't you get back to packing so you can say proper goodbyes?" Lavender suggested.

"Good idea," Pansy sniffled. Lavender and Luna made their escape as Angelina came over and sat down on the bunk across from the one Pansy's stuff was on.

"I should have known better than to confront her right after you told me," Angelina said. "Unless you did that on purpose."

"Of course I didn't!" Pansy demanded. "I honestly thought you should know what she said. I thought that it would give you motivation to beat the Yellow team later on. I was thinking that maybe we could be on the same side!" she finished hysterically.

"I'm sorry Pansy, I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you. I'm just so mad at myself," Angelina said.

"Don't be. I shouldn't have said anything to you at all. It probably is my fault," Pansy declared.

"Pansy, you're all packed. It's time for the two of you to go," Hermione said timidly.

Pansy wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She was determined not to cry as she faced the House of Fate. She put her bag around her shoulder, and she wrapped her arm around Angelina's arm, and the girls walked out of the cabin.

All of the contestants were waiting on the porch of the boy's cabin. Everyone took turns hugging Pansy, Draco, Cedric, and Angelina. Everyone except Astoria. She refused to say goodbye-not that Pansy or Angelina wanted to tell her bye anyways.

After everyone shared one last group hug, the two teams set off for the House of Fate. They stopped and grabbed their pieces before taking the long hike to the top of the mountain where the House of Fate was.

Once there, Sirius guided the Green team to one side of a burning fire, and Purple to the other side. As the players looked around, they saw they were on a huge flat rock. The walls were just large stone pillars. There were four pillars along three walls, and only two along the wall they came in. The burning fire was in the middle of the rock. In front of each team stood a small statue of a tree, a bowl of water, and a bowl of fire.

"Welcome, Green and Purple, to the House of Fate. Here we will play a game of chance. You will pick one of the elements: wood, water, or fire. Wood floats on water, water puts out the fire, and fire burns the wood. You will need to outsmart your opponent two times in order to make it back to the cabins and continue on in the game. Go ahead and make your first selection, and write it on this rock," Sirius handed each team a marker and a rock, "then hand it back to me."

The teams took a moment and picked the element they thought would win. Then both handed their rock to Sirius who threw them into the big fire in the middle.

"Alright, will the winning element please rise?" Sirius asked. The water bowl rose in front of the Green team.

"Green, you picked water. Water puts out the fire. That's one win for you. Purple, you need to win the next round in order to stay in the game." Pansy and Draco nodded as Sirius handed them the next rock for them to write on. Once both teams had made their choices, he once again threw them into the big fire.

"Will the winning element please rise?" Sirius asked again. The fire bowl in front of the Purple team rose.

"Purple, you picked fire. Fire burns the wood. You stay in the game. This next round will be our tie breaker. Whoever wins this round will hike back down the mountain to the anxiously awaiting teams at the cabins. Whoever loses will leave the island forever." Sirius said. He handed out the final rock and waited for the teams to make their decisions. Once he had the rocks, he threw them into the fire.

"Will the winning element please rise?" Sirius asked for the final time. Both teams held their breath as they waited for the winning statue to rise. The fire bowl in front of Purple rose again. Pansy screamed and hugged Draco.

"Purple picked fire again. It burns the wood. Congratulations Purple." Sirius said. He turned to the Green team. "Cedric, Angelina, I'm sorry. You guys played a good game. You can be proud that you made it past the right to stay, and got to be a contestant on Endurance."

A crew member came up and guided the Green team away from the House of Fate.

"Congratulations again, Purple. I know you have some excited people waiting to see who won. Go ahead back down the mountain, and I'll see you in the morning." Sirius said. Pansy and Draco took off back down the mountain and back to the waiting crowd. Everyone was extremely excited to see them. Except for one girl who slipped away back into the girl's cabin.


	6. Circle of Fire

Disclaimer: This story is a mix between Harry Potter and the tv show Endurance(a kids surviver type show). I own nothing. Not the characters (JK Rowling does), not the plot (that belongs to the show Endurance and it's creators), not the concept (again, that belongs to the Endurance producers/creators). The challenges you read about are almost exactly how they were on the show. I changed a few minor things, but I mostly took the characters from Harry Potter and put them in the tv show.

AN: Sorry for the delay. Enjoy :)

Circle of Fire

"Hey everyone, come on out! We need to chat for a bit," Sirius yelled to the remaining boys and girls. Everyone shuffled out. It was bright and early the next morning. Sirius sat down on the porch of the girl's cabin, and instructed the kids to sit on either side of him.

"Yesterday was tough, huh?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," murmured the kids.

"It was really sad to see the Green team go home. I'm sure the Purple team will tell you, they put up a good fight at the House of Fate. However, they did leave something behind. They left their puzzle piece and a note," Sirius turned to Pansy. "Pansy, why don't you read it?" He handed the small note that was rolled up and tied with a bow.

"Alright," She said,

_"Hey Everyone,  
While we are extremely sad to be leaving this wonderful place, we are happy that we were able to meet all of you. We look forward to when this is over and hopefully meeting up with you back home. However, we have a warning for you guys. Be careful about who you call your friends. You never know who is going to backstab you, like the Yellow Team did to us," _as Pansy read this line, a shocked gasp went through the group. Astoria had a shocked expression on her face. _"Because of this, we have decided to give Purple our Heart piece. They have been honest, and we respect them for that. Good luck guys._

_ Cedric and Angelina"_

Pansy had a huge smile on her face when she finished reading. She looked over to Draco. He had his signature smirk on his face. Everyone else looked either shocked or envious.

"Wow. Purple that give you guys a huge lead. You guys now have three pieces to everyone else's one. Guess we are quickly learning who the real threat is. Ok guys, enjoy the morning. We have an Endurance later on," Sirius said. He got up to walk away leaving the stunned group.

"Why did they give you that piece?" Astoria asked Purple nastily.

"Are you deaf?" Ginny asked. "It's because you sent them to the House of Fate. They thought you were their friend, and you sent them home."

"That was just part of the game!" Astoria argued.

"So was Green giving their piece to Purple," Ginny said. She got up to walk away. She had enough of Astoria for one morning. Hermione followed her. Astoria walked off in a different direction with Seamus and Katie in tow.

"Draco, let's go hang our piece up," Pansy suggested. With that, everyone went off to do relax or prepare for the mission later on today.

"Astoria was really snotty this morning when Sirius came by," Lavender said to Luna. The two girls were sitting on the swing. Lavender looked over to Neville and Ron. They were in the hammocks with Harry and Blaise.

"Do you think Harry is going to still pretend to like Astoria after this morning?" Luna asked.

"You think that was an act yesterday?" Lavender questioned.

"Oh yes. Harry doesn't like her. I can tell by the way he looks at her. It's quite obvious if you look good enough," Luna stated.

"He was very convincing chasing her around yesterday," Lavender said.

"She stole his water bottle. He wanted it back. That was all. I heard Harry say something about it to Neville last night," Luna replied.

"Oh that's good. I wonder when she will figure it out." Lavender pondered. She looked over at the boys in the hammocks again. "Do you still think we have a chance of flying under the radar until later on in the game? I mean I was shocked when Yellow sent Green to the House of Fate. I thought we had a lucky break when they won because they were going to send Purple and Grey. Or even Brown,"

"I think so. We are keeping to ourselves for now. We aren't being threatening," Luna reasoned.

"That will have to change eventually. Maybe we should start filling the holes in people's friendships when teams leave," Lavender suggested.

"Maybe," Luna responded distractedly. "What do you think the boys are over there talking about?"

"Who knows. Boys talk about weird things," Lavender said. "Maybe they are working out a secret alliance. But then again, they look like they are laughing."

"…And then the boggart turned into this mean old professor wearing my Gran's dress and hat with the black bird on it!" Neville finished. He had been telling Harry, Ron, and Blaise about his encounter with a boggart he had recently. The other boys were in stitches they were laughing so hard.

"That's the best boggart story I've ever heard!" Blaise said through his laugher. "Mine always turns into a clown."

"Mine is a huge nasty spider," Ron said with a shudder.

"I grew up in a muggle house so I've never seen a boggart," Harry said.

"So you are a muggleborn then?" Blaise asked.

"No. My parents died when I was a baby. My mom's sister took me in. They're muggles. I didn't know I was a wizard until I was 11. It's a long, drawn out, and very boring story," Harry down played, hoping they wouldn't want a better explanation.

"Sorry mate. That's really unfortunate," Ron said.

"Yeah. But what can I do? I don't think about it most of the time," Harry replied.

"That's probably for the best," Neville said.

"So, on a much happier note I was glad to see Green call out the Yellow team in their letter this morning. I want to do something like that if I don't make it to the final two," Blaise said.

"That was brilliant. Too bad they left though. I mean I'm glad Draco and Pansy beat them, but I wish that Blue and Yellow would have gone up there instead," Harry retorted.

"So you don't like Astoria then?" Neville asked.

"No." Harry replied simply. "But if she thinks I do, I don't plan on changing that opinion. If they end up being a strong team, I can use that to my advantage,"

"Good plan mate. Then you can also petition for us to stay as well!" Blaise joked.

"You know, Seamus isn't that bad. I just hate that he has Astoria as a partner. What were you thinking in choosing her when we got to pick our partners?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I didn't realize she was going to be so bad at first. By the time I realized, I had already agreed. Ginny is the one who came up with the plan for her to be the bad guy," Harry said. "I just got lucky that she wanted to be my partner too."

"We should start walking," Neville said. He pointed to the wood line where Sirius was. "Guess it's challenge time."

The boys got out of the hammock. They met up with Luna and Lavender, who had still been sitting on the swings, as they walked back.

"Wonder what today will be like," Luna said conversationally.

"I just hope Yellow doesn't win again," Neville replied.

"Don't we all," Harry said as they reached the cabins.

"Don't we all what?" Astoria said. She walked out of the cabins just as Harry had finished his sentence.

"Wonder who will win," Harry lied smoothly.

"Oh," Astoria replied not all that convinced. But she dropped it as Sirius yelled for everyone to come out.

They were standing in the meadow on the other side of the cabins. Instead of the huge pulley system they saw two days ago, now stood seven circles on sticks. They looked like Quidditch goals, but there was one for each team. Sitting in each of the circles was a long pole. The other end of the pole was attached to a long beam that was 6 feet off the ground. Two feet in front of the big beam was a handle-one for each team member.

"Welcome to your next Endurance Challenge!" Sirius exclaimed. "In this challenge, you and your partner will lift the pole up and keep it in the center of the circle as long as possible. If you hit the circle, it will ignite on fire. Simple enough?" Sirius asked. Everyone nodded. "Alright. As always, we have a piece up for grab today. Whichever team wins will get the Commitment piece as well as the black jar. Everyone get into position!"

The teams walked over to their colored pole. They stood under the handle bars and waited for the cue.

"On your mark," Sirius yelled. "Get set! GO!"

Everyone reached up and lifted the pole into the middle of the circle. Around the five minute mark, people started to fidget.

"Oh my arms are starting to hurt!" Lavender said to Ron.

"Let one arm take a break and then let the other one," Ron suggested. Lavender took her left arm down.

"That's a great idea Ron," Hermione said. "Blaise you mind?"

"No. Take a full break. I can hold it," Blaise said to Hermione.

"Look at that! Blaise is holding strong as Hermione completely let's go," Sirius said.

"This is hard," Ginny said. "It didn't seem like it would be this hard!"

Astoria started laughing at her comment.

"Showing weakness, Ginny?" Astoria said.

"Making a comment is not showing weakness, Astoria." Ginny said bluntly making Astoria laugh harder.

"Oi, Astoria, quit laughing. You are shaking the pole. I can't keep it steady if you keep laughing," Seamus said. But it was too late. Their pole touched the rim and their circle burst into flames.

"Oh, Yellow is out!" Sirius yelled.

Astoria and Seamus let go of their pole and walked over to Sirius.

"I'm glad they're out," Lavender whispered to Ron.

"Katie, you better win now!" Astoria yelled from the side lines.

"Trying my best," she replied. It was clear she was struggling to hang on.

A few more minutes passed. Then all the teams were taking turns resting their arms. Draco and Pansy were the only team to be holding steady. All of a sudden, the Red team's circle burst into flames.

"Red team, you're out!" Sirius yelled. "Oh wait. Brown's out too." The Brown team's circle had broken out in flames as Red was walking off the field.

"You got this Katie! Hold on!" Astoria yelled.

"Oh I hope they touch soon," Pansy whispered to Draco.

The Orange team was the next team to get eliminated. Luna's hands slipped off the handle and before Neville could adjust, the pole hit the circle. As Luna and Neville walked off the playing field, the Grey team also hit their circle.

"With Orange and Grey done, that leaves Purple and Blue left," Sirius said. "To make it harder, on my cue the remaining teams will only be allowed to use one arm, and no switching. On your mark, get set, go!"

The remaining four players dropped one arm. Two minutes passed by before the Blue team started to struggle.

"My hand is slipping," Katie said to Oliver.

"It's fine. Try to slip it back," he whispered back.

"Please fall, please fall, please fall," Pansy whispered.

"It's really slipping," Katie said again.

"Hang on, Katie!" Astoria yelled.

Katie's hand was slipping closer and closer to the edge of the handle.

"Fall, Fall, Fall," Pansy whispered.

"My hand's going," Katie said. Just as she said it, her hand slipped off and the Blue team's pole hit the circle, which burst into flames.

"Game over! Purple wins the second Endurance challenge!" Sirius yelled. The Purple team let go of their pole and headed over to Sirius. Ginny and Hermione ran forward and hugged Pansy.

"Come on over, Purple." Sirius said. They walked over to where he was standing.

"The Commitment piece is yours. We will meet up again in a few hours and discuss who you'll be giving the Black Jar to," Sirius said handing the piece to Pansy. She and Draco headed over to the poles where the pieces were standing and hung up their second piece of the day.

"You know, Katie has been getting on my last nerve lately. Almost as bad as Astoria," Pansy complained. She was sitting with Hermione and Luna on the swing. The three girls were small enough to fit on the swing together.

"I know! I couldn't believe how rude they were today during the challenge," Luna said.

"Served Astoria right losing because of her laughter," Hermione chimed in.

"They need to go," Pansy said bluntly.

"You need to give one of them the Black Jar," Hermione said.

"I plan on it," Pansy replied.

"Plan on what?" Lavender asked. She was walking towards the girls as she spoke.

"Oh nothing," Pansy eluded.

"You can tell her, she doesn't like them either," Luna said.

"Oh alright, Draco and I are giving the Black Jar to either Blue or Yellow," Pansy declared.

"I figured as much," Lavender said. She looked visibly relieved to know she wasn't getting the Black Jar.

"Just don't say anything ok? I don't want it getting back to them," Pansy said.

"What's it matter?" Hermione questioned.

"I want to see if either of them is going to come beg me and Draco to spare them," Pansy answered with a wicked smirk on her face.

"You enjoy power, don't you Pansy?" Luna said.

"Yep," Pansy stated simply.

"And there goes Astoria to the hammocks to talk to Draco," Lavender said.

"Ha. Look at that, she's dragging Harry away. That is _not _what I thought she'd do," Hermione said.

Pansy looked miffed.

"Harry, can I talk to you for a moment?" Astoria asked sweetly.

Shock briefly crossed Harry's face. He looked to Draco, Blaise, and Neville before he nodded and got out of the hammock he was sharing with Blaise. Astoria smiled and started walking back towards the cabins. She stopped just short of the fire pit and turned to face him.

"Harry, could you pretty please talk to Draco for me? Ask him not to give the Black Jar to Blue or Yellow?" Astoria asked.

"What? Why me? Don't you think you and Katie, Seamus, or Oliver should?" Harry responded surprised.

"I don't know. I mean you are one of his closest friends here. I know you are. And if you said you wanted us to not get the Black Jar, I think he consider it more than if any of us asked," she reasoned.

"Astoria," Harry began.

"Harry, you want me to stay don't you? I'd have a much better shot if I didn't have the disadvantage tomorrow," Astoria cooed. She leaned in and was touching his arm. She had put a seductive expression on her face.

"I mean I guess…yeah," Harry said. He was trying to play his cards just right. He didn't want her to know he doesn't like her just yet, but it was hard to do what she wished.

"Just go grab Draco and Pansy and talk to them, okay?" Astoria asked.

Harry turned around stunned. His feet took over and led him to Draco. By the time he made it back to the hammocks, Pansy was standing next to the hammock Draco was laying in.

"What did _she_ want?" Pansy demanded.

"Um," Harry turned around and Astoria flicked her hands forward urging him to talk, "Pansy, Draco, a word please?" he finished awkwardly.

Draco got out of the hammock. He and Pansy followed Harry away from the hammocks.

"Um, so Astoria wanted me to talk to you about tonight," Harry said uncomfortably.

Draco laughed and Pansy looked indignant.

"Say again?" Pansy asked.

"Well actually she wanted me to ask you guys not to give Yellow or Blue the Black Jar tonight," Harry choked out. Draco couldn't control himself. He burst out laughing again.

"That's rich. I can't believe she really did that," Draco said.

"So I guess the real question is which one of them are you going to give it to," Harry said.

"Based on that alone I'd rather give it to Yellow. But then again, Blue almost beat us," Pansy said.

"Yeah I'm going to leave you two to discuss this. Sirius will be out here any minute to call us to the Circle of Rocks," Harry said. He turned to walk away. He walked back to the hammocks. Hermione had taken his spot next to Blaise and Ginny was sitting next to Neville.

"Well?" Ginny asked.

Harry let out a hollow laugh. "Astoria wanted me to ask Purple to not give her or Blue the Black Jar,"

"What did you tell them?" Hermione asked.

"To give it to her or Blue," Harry said.

Everyone chuckled.

"Do you think he did it?" Katie asked Astoria. The two girls were sitting in the girl's cabin on Katie's bunk.

"I watched him," Astoria said.

"Good," Katie replied.

"So now all we have to do is to win tomorrow so we can send him and Purple," Astoria said.

"Assuming Purple does what you asked," Katie said.

"Even if they do give one of us the Black Jar, that just means the other has to work extra hard tomorrow. We can do it. I mean you almost won today. You can do it again tomorrow if they do give us the Black Jar," Astoria said. Just then they heard Sirius call everyone to the Circle of Rocks.

"Let's go face the music," Astoria said.

"So today was interesting, huh?" Sirius said. Purple was sitting on the rock to the left of Sirius while everyone else was sitting on rocks facing them.

"Blue team, you came so close to winning! What happened?" Sirius asked.

"Well," Katie said, "After we could only use one hand, I guess mine started getting sweaty. It slid right off the end."

"That was unfortunate. But Purple, you guys are a force to be reckoned with. You have four pieces now to everyone else's one. Today you two were rock solid the entire time. If one person took a break, it was like the other person was completely unaffected. It was impressive," Sirius stated.

"Thanks, Sirius," Draco replied.

"Astoria, you haven't made your friendship with Katie a secret. Would you say that the two of you are an alliance?" Sirius asked.

"Well," Astoria faltered. "I mean I wouldn't necessarily say we have an alliance. She's the best friend I have here and I don't want her to go home. So I'm going to cheer for her and want her to do well. I'm going to help her if I can."

"That's what an alliance is, Astoria," Hermione said.

Astoria rolled her eyes and didn't say anything else.

"Okay, well let's go ahead and find out who will be at a disadvantage tomorrow," Sirius turned to the Purple team. "Who are you giving the Black Jar to?"

"Well, we decided since Blue came in second place, they should get the Black Jar," Draco said.

"Alright, Blue. Come on up and find out what's in it." Sirius said.

Oliver walked up with Katie behind him. Oliver took the Jar and opened it. Out popped a cardboard cutout of a stop watch. It had :30 written in big white numbers on it.

"Alright Blue, this means you will have a 30 second disadvantage in tomorrow's House of Fate mission. Everyone get a good night's sleep. You are going to need it for tomorrow's mission," Sirius said. He dismissed the group for the evening. Astoria walked over to Katie and hugged her. The two girls walked back to the cabins arm in arm with their heads together, whispering to each other of the revenge they swore they'd get the next day.


End file.
